The document summarizes how the opening sequence of a short film represents different social groups through its use of mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound, and editing techniques. Specifically, it shows a young girl being preyed upon by an older male antagonist. Stereotypical gender representations are used where the girl wears pink and is vulnerable, while the antagonist wears dark clothing and hides his identity. Various shots are discussed that contrast the power dynamics between the two characters. The sound design and editing also aim to build tension and emphasize the girl's vulnerability.

1. Question 2
How does your opening sequence
represent different social groups?

2. Within my opening sequence I follow the conventional representations of gender and
social groups. Stereotypically women are seen as the 'weaker' gender and men tend to
protect them/rescue them - similar to Propps' character theory. In my opening sequence
my narrative follows the same pattern, my protagonist is a young girl who is being
preyed on by an older male. Due to her young age and weaker gender status she is seen
as more vulnerable to the audience and is an easier target to her abductor. My
protagonist is wearing a pink jumper further developing the sense of her femininity due
to pink often being associated with girls and ‘girly things’. Again, this expresses to the
audience that she is a very susceptible character within the narrative. To contrast with
this idea I dressed my antagonist in a black hooded top which hides his identity creating
a tense and mysterious image, the colour black also has negative connotations as it
often means that people do not want to be seen/want to be hidden. This use of mise en
scene helps the opening sequence to create a relationship with the audience making
them eager to watch more of the film. In both cases of this use of mise en scene they
follow conventional features and fit in with stereotypical perceptions which allows the
understand to see that this film will be a horror.

3. The images below show how the characters in my film are shown in others that are similar.
As seen in the two pictures to the left they are both wearing black hooded clothing and
they are both hiding their identities whether that be with a mask or by pulling the hood
right over the face whilst they are looking down. The picture is from scream and we liked
the idea that the black gown was a plain and simple garment that was distinctive. We
wanted to create the same effect with our antagonist so decided to make it more realistic
by dressing him all in dark clothes (e.g. dark tracksuit bottoms and a hoody) and making his
face and identity hidden.
The girls pictured to the right show how we used her femininity and child-like innocence to
play with the audiences emotions. Both girls are wearing ‘girly’ clothing (either floral or
pink) and they are young. Using these techniques it meant we created an atmosphere
where the two characters contrasted to ensure that the audience empathised with the little
girl.

4. In my opening sequence I use a variety of shots throughout the small film. In one of
my shots I use an eye-level shot where the camera is facing towards the protagonist
and she is running towards it, the scene is in slow motion and her face is scared and
pale. As she gets closer to the camera we can see her face more clearly and see that
is she is extremely frightened and in the background we can see the antagonist
whose face is still hidden by his hooded clothing. This shot shows how the
antagonist is the most powerful and how the young girl has no say in what she can
do in this situation as he is leading her towards the camera through intimidation.
Another shot that is used in my opening sequence that represents one of my social
groups is when my antagonist is looking through the trees at the young girl. I used
blocking in this shot to show how the hooded male is a bigger and more violent
character, he is closer to the camera do therefore appears to be bigger than the girl
who is further away and scurrying off. The camera films over the mans shoulder so
it is as if we are seeing her from his point of view, she looks scared and nervous
which contrasts with the strong stance that the male has in the shot.

5. The sound within the opening sequence also supports how the protagonist is presented
as a vulnerable and naïve character. At the start we see an image of the young girl who is
laughing and chatting with her friends, the music is the background is dark and
monotone which adds tension. The image of the girl laughing and happy with the non-
diagetic music in the background lets the audience know that the girl is unaware and
ingenuous of her fate. This continues into the narrative as we see that the girl travels
through the woods alone regardless of the night dawning upon her.
When using sound within short film, instead of focusing a representation for a social
group we created an antagonist instead. His identity is never shown and no-one truly
knows who he is so therefore instead of basing it around a certain person/group of
people we created the sound to fit an antagonist. We did this by using the breathing and
the woodland wildlife pleonastic sounds to create an eerie and spooky atmosphere. This
soundtrack suggests to the audience that they should be cautious of this character and
he is a strong role within the narrative.

6. Editing
Through the use of prevalence I have been able to represent my victim as such per social
as vulnerable. By her constantly being on screen it gives the audience the impression that
they should worry for the character, this along with blocking contributes to the effect that
she is liable to danger.
The very start of the opening sequence is slowed down to make the audience feel unsure
of the future outcomes. The shots are of the young girl and her friend who are sat
laughing and joking, the slow motion contrasts with the ordinary scene of the girls sat
chatting and laughing on the sofa. Another section where slow motion is used to make
the audience worry and tense is towards the end when the girl is running away from the
stranger. The shots are a lot shorter and are put into slow motion by doing this it means
that the audience can only see small parts of the filming – leaving them on edge.
Cross cutting is used in my piece to contrast between the shots of the girls sat in the
house and the woods where the disruption occurs. This flicking between the two different
locations shows how there is comfort and safety within the house but then as we look at
the wood location where it is in black and white it represents vulnerability and shows how
the girl could be in danger in this section.